How Do You Say “Jeep” in Mandarin?

Marchionne said he will keep “the pillar cars of the Jeep (brand) in the United States. Wrangler is one. The Grand Cherokee is another. These are things that need to be protected because they represent the best and the essence of Jeep. If you tell me I cannot make a Patriot somewhere else, I might as well go out of the market.”

It’s always nice to find these things out after the election. It’s also nice to know that Jeep’s iconic vehicle (the Wrangler) and its full-size SUV will both still be made here in the USA. And anyway, the problem isn’t whether the Patriot gets built in Ohio or Guangdong or both place. The problem is that the Patriot exists at all. The Patriot should not be a Jeep. It isn’t a Jeep.

Back when the Germans were still running Chrysler Group, they were presented with two “soft roaders” as potential Jeep models. Neither should have worn the Jeep bade at all, because neither was Trail Rated. And off road is Jeep’s brand, even if most owners never take them any further away from pavement than the gravel parking lot next to the soccer field. Naturlich, given two bad choices, the Germans chose both.

The Patriot should have gotten a Dodge label. They could have made the Compass a Chrysler. Or they could have diluted Jeep’s priceless brand with just one soft-road model. But no: They built them both.

My grandfather drove almost nothing but Cadillacs for 40 years, except for one brief and regretted fling with Lincoln. I was visiting him one summer in the late 90s during the height of the SUV craze. And he came back from an oil change at the dealer, amazed by row after row of Escalades. “The lot was nothing but trucks,” he said. “I don’t even know what a Cadillac is anymore.” How does a company overcome the loss of its brand? Cadillac has been trying to do just that for more than a decade now, and still hasn’t recovered all its lost cachet. Maybe it never will.

The real damage has already been done to Jeep’s brand, no matter where they’re built.

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1.
JohnB

I never understood why Jeep thought they needed the Patriot or Compass in their lineup. The classes were too similar to the Liberty and would only cut into their own sales.

Even nasty old General Electrics appliance division has discovered the down side of outsourcing to China. There was an online article a while back about how they have started making select high end appliances in the US again and by applying the Deming (Japanese manufacturing method) to product improvement and quality control, they found they could make stuff cheaper in the US. Apparently transportation costs, communication problems, and ect. when dealing with China aren’t worth it.

The Patriot did get a Dodge label; it’s called the Caliber. The Compass and Patriot share the same underpinnings as the Caliber. Agreed that they should have built neither as a Jeep … it’s a Mitsubishi/DCX co-developed compact car platform. I think they were trying to beat GM in a contest of how many ill-conceived production cars they could stick a mediocre (at best) platform under.

Jeep’s brand image is based on providing relatively simple, extremely useful, infinitely customizable, very rugged vehicles. Off-roading is nice, but that’s just the proof that the vehicle will hold up under stress. That’s what they’ve screwed up with the Patriot, Compass, and the fat-a**ed WK and WK2. They’re too complicated, impossible to re-configure, and are not much more capable than a car or minivan. The WK is capable, but far too heavy and complicated.

What’s worse is that they’re going to get rid of the small-SUV Liberkee KK platform, and put the name on a car. Jeep will be out of the small SUV market for the first time since the mid-80′s, and the Wrangler Unlimited is not a perfect fit for that market. I predict disaster in that market segment.

However, I think it’s probably brilliant, and possibly badge-saving, to make a Jeep based on the Fiat 500 as long as it’s cheap enough to attract first-time car buyers. Let’s face it, a lot Jeep’s decisions for this model year are probably driven by the new CAFE standards (which apply to Jeep for the first time). They have to sell the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee, which means they have to balance those sales with some high-MPG vehicles. A cute little Jeep will go a long way toward satisfying that requirement.

I’m the proud owner of a 1986 Jeep Cherokee, the last of the AMC flavored Jeeps. I use it as my daily driver & weekend trip car. With 233K on the old ticker, I’m starting to wonder what I’ll replace it with. I’ve decided, with my mechanic’s help to keep it running for another 10 years. Parts are easy to find, they span all ranges of price and quality. The body is nearly flawless, and the gen-u-wine naugahyde interior looks 3 years old. (I’d buy a new one if it was of the same build quality. My 1989 Jeep Cherokee, bought brand new, had soooo many Chrysler based failures it took three years to “debug” the build. NB I’d still be driving the ’89 but a thief totaled it, two trucks, a tree, and a front porch.)

Yeah, the last of the Renix Cherokees have a bad reputation. Did you have to ditch the ABS?

I’m still driving a ’94 Cherokee myself. Looked at getting something new and gave up on it. The old XJ ought to be good for at least another 5 years or so. I’ve only got 150K on it, with only 80K on the engine block (courtesy of the Chrysler 7yr/70K warranty). Had to get a new suspension all around, but that’s no problem what with all the rock-crawling components available.

My ’86 has plain old brakes – no ABS. Likewise the ’89. My daughter coveted my ’86 so we shopped all over VA looking for a good XJ. She found a ’97 w. ~55K miles. Snapped it up for $4K. She’s planning on 10+ years and maintains it accordingly. Havne’t had problems with the ABS – yet.